"Tough times never last. Only tough people do!"
Of the many things in this life, there is none that gives me more fulfilment than working in the farm and seeing the hard work of your hands produce so much.
The years '21 and '22 were therefore not that great in that respect. A period of drought and high input prices (fertilizer and seeds) coincided with the long effects of the pandemic and made it extremely expensive to plant. We had to rely on irrigation and that meant we had to run the electric water pump longer.
Thankfully, the rains would come but they would dump twice the expected amount of water causing flooding, extensive damage to the farms in many areas around the country and unfortunately, the loss of human life.
However, every cloud has a silver lining. Since we are in the highlands, we didn't experience any of those adverse flooding problems. Instead, the farms thrived and production more than doubled.
We harvested well over 5 sacks of potatoes, so of which will be for sale and the rest for domestic use.
We also were able to get 3 sacks of beans. These are a staple in most meals. They especially go very nicely with a side of white rice and an avocado, if I might add.
And of course, we cannot forget the vegetable patch providing an all year round supply of cabbage, spinach, spring onion and carrots. We like to avoid buying vegetables, which are mostly grown with chemicals hence the patch. It is cheaper too.
The past two years haven't just blessed the fields though. The animals too have had a share. We introduced a couple of sheep mid last year and just this month the two females finally gave birth two another three females (2 twins plus one), which is extremely lucky. Their population will just go parabolic from here.
We also got three female calves too. Midnight, Dawn and Melody, the youngest, all aptly named after the circumstances surrounding their birth. Melody was obviously the noisiest. Milk production should therefore receive a significant boost when they reach maturity.
It is especially rewarding seeing the animals roam the compound and eat the grass freely and unbothered. It is beautiful and a fantastic change of pace from the car horns, exhaust fumes, loud music and general life in the capital city. An oasis!
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You’re getting some good Sukuma Wiki from those cabbages!
!BEER
I see you still remember. 😅 But allow me to correct you. Sukuma Wiki is a type of leafy vegetable just like spinach only tougher, bigger leaves and much cheaper hence the swahili name. The English translation is 'push the week'. Basically helping you survive the week without starving.
The cabbage leaves do look like the sukuma wiki though. I also have to say that I much prefer spinach.
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